Derrick Rose and the Bulls organization spent the latter part of the 2013 season tormenting the team’s fan base by teasing them with the possibility, however remote or slight, that he would return to action at some point to give a very gritty Chicago team a much-needed postseason push.

It never materialized, of course, and the drama could have all been avoided if the organization just came out at some point and made it clear that unless something drastic were to happen, Rose was out for the season.

There isn’t any NBA rule that would have prevented him from returning following such a declaration, and it would have been the smart and painless way to handle the situation for all parties involved.

Now that the season is over, and Rose won’t hit the court officially for the Bulls until training camps open in early October, there should be less harm in the team releasing update’s on the MVP point guard’s status.

Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Rose’s speed and explosiveness are back to where the former MVP feels like himself again.

“I worked him out about a week ago,” Thibodeau said in a phone conversation Thursday. “It was great.”

“Watching the way he’s moving now, there’s a confidence,” Thibodeau said. “[Reporters] may not have been able to see the total work he was putting in. But he was putting in an enormous amount of work each and every day. He just never got to the explosiveness he was comfortable with. I think he’s there now. He feels great, and that’s the most important thing.”

This is at least a little bit revealing, in the sense that Thibodeau obviously saw Rose practicing with the team late in the season, and the comments here that his explosiveness was never back to his pre-injury level explains at least in part why he never made his highly anticipated return before the end of the season.

It appears to back now, thought, at least in Thibodeau’s estimation. And that’s great news for the Bulls and their fans as they look ahead to next season.

As a Bulls fan, as much as it hurt for me to watch him sit on the bench the entire year, this was the smartest move the Bulls organization could have made. He is the cornerstone for the future. I am excited for where the Bulls are at right now. With a lot of expiring contracts it will be interesting to see who wants to team up with Rose.

Boy I’ve missed the daily teasers by the club right to the bitter end. Just think, if the Bulls were in the finals, management would finally be telling fans that Rose was coming back for game 5….just in time.